How to use this Page

Birthday Party, originally uploaded by crystal driedger.

Every year it is my goal to use the skills I developed while working full time at my last job (I was there for four years and the company sold gift bags, childrens books, greeting cards and other fun things to quite a variety of companies including Walmart, Costco, American Greetings and many a dollar store among other places). One of the downsides of selling to these big companies was that the end results of my work (the actual products) weren't sold or created in Canada. Now normally this wouldn't be a problem, but I am a very far drive away from our nearest border (which for me is Montana, a beautiful state packed with mountains and sweet smelling forests)... and for those of you who have had the wonderful experience of seeing your work in stores it's so so satisfying to see it being touched and admired by real people, even if they are standing on it while it's on the floor (this, by the way, happened to me when I was lucky enough to be able to go on a business trip to Nashville. In a dollarstore in the middle of the city people were frantically searching for the "perfect" Christmas gift bag all the while tossing things on the floor where the faces of my paintings were being covered by the mud on the streets beneath customers boots).

This story reminds me of the reality of commercial illustration, or perhaps illustration in general. We create art that is essentially disposable. Our paintings get admired for seconds, perhaps a few days at most then is thrown away or recycled. There are exceptions to this rule: Children's books can be cherished and read over and over, some greeting cards are saved for years and I've heard of people framing copies of art they've clipped from magazines.

While I know that not every child who gets a card I've created in their mailbox will treasure it I can't stop trying to make similar images than those I loved when I was little. Greeting cards and childrens books were the first things I could call mine and they were certainly evidence that an artist could influence and brighten my world. Not to mention it dispelled the idea that if you wanted to be an artist you had to be "starving". Someone must have been paid to create the cards I got for my birthday and there was no way the artists behind the Lion King weren't being compensated in some way (although at the time I would have licked dirt to have been one of their artists, forget paying me!).

So I'll continue to illustrate and create concepts that might, if I am so lucky, be turned into cards that are eventually thrown away (or at best recycled). Because heck, people might like my design so much that they will buy my card and fill it with money. If that doesn't make my card worth more to someone, I don't know what will!

Frank Close, OBE, is a Professor of Physics at Oxford University and a Fellow of Exeter College. In his new book, The Void Close tells the story of scientists’ efforts to understand the Void and in the process helps us understand that by seeking to understand the nature of the Void, we are confronting the enigma of why anything should exist at all. In the excerpt below Close looks at ancient conceptions of the Void.

The paradox of creation from the void, of Being and Non-Being, has tantalized all recorded cultures. As early as 1,700, years BC, the Creation Hymn of the Rigveda states that

There was neither non-existence nor existence then. There was neither the realm of space nor the sky which is beyond. What stirred? Where? (more…)

Share This

Not particularly Christmassy, but I'll forget entirely about posting this if I attempt to save this article from yesterday's New York Times 'til after the holidays. Here's a taste. You can read the whole thing here (registration is free or use Bug Me Not): At 71, Physics Professor Is a Web Star by Sara Rimer CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Walter H. G. Lewin, 71, a physics professor, has long had a cult

While visiting an exhibition of antique planes with my son, I mentioned to him that I was due to post to the blog soon and was out of good ideas. He suggested that I write something dealing with Bernoulli’s principle and flying. He said, “We can even take pictures of the old planes.” “Great idea, Ed,” I said. So here goes.

It’s my guess that in the 21st century, most students have flown in a plane, although when I was a student, it was less common. Teachers might like to begin a discussion of flight by asking students what keeps a plane in the air. You can have them blow over a strip of paper and watch it fly. “What makes the paper rise?” Eventually, you can discuss Bernoulli’s principle.

Another Principle of Flight

Teachers can show their students a helium balloon or a picture of a blimp and ask: “What makes these objects fly? Is it Bernoulli’s principle?” Of course, the answer is no. This time it is the difference in density. There are many ways to lead students to this answer. One way is to have the students look at the Periodic Table of the Elements. “What is the atomic mass of helium?” (4 atomic mass units [amu]) “What is the composition of air?” (Approximately 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen) “What is the atomic mass of nitrogen?” (28 amu) Tell your students that under the same conditions of temperature and pressure, equal volumes of gases contain an equal number of particles (molecules). Nitrogen molecules are heavier than helium molecules. So, helium is less dense than air.

Density differences are also involved sinking and floating. These concepts are commonly taught in middle school. These topics are discussed in Amsco Science: Grade 6, the first book in our new middle school science series. In Earth science classes, density differences are important in weather and in the study of rocks and minerals. These topics are discussed in Earth Science the Physical Setting, Reviewing Earth Science: The Physical Setting, and Earth Science: Reviewing the Essentials all by Thomas McGuire and Earth Science Work-Text by Constantine Constant. In addition, there are activities and labs in Laboratory and Skills Manual for Earth Science: The Physical Setting. You can learn more about these books on our Website http://www.amscopub.com/.

Herewith some choice bits from science writer Natalie Angier's latest title, The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science, in the hopes that, especially if you're the parent of school-age children, educated at home or elsewhere, you might consider adding this to your library list or bookshelf, possibly the latter for a handy one-volume (under 300 pages) reference. Ms. Angier's